James Delahunty
15 Mar 2005 0:33
Several Dutch ISPs have agreed to cooperate in a crackdown on illegal filesharing in the country. They said they will send written warnings to any customer suspected of trading copyrighted material online illegally. They will forward letters from the Brain Institute, which represents the entertainment industry in the Netherlands, letting the customer know that what he/she is doing is illegal and the possible consequences of such activity.
However, the ISPs did refuse to hand any names of personal information of the customers over to Brain. "This is a service, a warning to clients that they are doing things that are against the law," said Maaike Scholten, spokeswoman for providers HetNet and Planet Internet. They see this as an opportunity to dampen illegal sharing so their customers don't end up getting sued.
The Dutch Supreme Court ruled in December 2003 that programs used to swap files was legal but of course did not rule out any action that could be taken against those who use the programs to trade files illegally. In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America has sued thousands of file-sharers for illegally sharing their copyrighted music. The same thing could eventually happen in the Netherlands if the Brain Institute decided to go after the sharers.
Director Tim Kuik said it will use the letters to demand that downloaders pay for songs and other material they have downloaded in the past. "We'll see what happens to them if they don't pay," Kuik said. He expects the institute to eventually sue some of the sharers. One major ISP, XS4ALL, is not cooperating with the institute. "They never even asked us," said spokeswoman Judith van Erven. "I guess they know where we stand.". The company has said "Access for All, not an enforcement arm of the entertainment industry.". It's good to see that the entertainment industry can be challenged on their quest to control technology.
Source:
Yahoo